Editorial for the Youth Generation and social movements within education in Asia

This special issue aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between the current generation of young people and social movements that arise within the context of education. There is a rise in social movements around the globe, here, we focus on Asia, where young people have been central actors (Altbach & Luescher, 2019). In this special issue, we explore the ambivalent roles of higher education institutions as experiential sites for political citizenship education in the context of these large-scale social protests. Previous research on social movements in education has tended to focus on large societal forces and effects at system levels. Several studies have also indicated the need to pay attention to capitalism (Cini et al., 2017) and neoliberalism (Ibrahim, 2011; Sadlier, 2019; Torres & Jones, 2013; Torres, 2011) when investigating social movements. In the special issue of the International Studies in Sociology of Education (volumes 2 and 3), Torres and Jones (2013) suggested that the implementation of neoliberalism had triggered the ‘growing resistance movement’ (p.77). Though this scholarship provides a better understanding of how greater social-economic forces might have triggered social movements, there is still limited research on the unique roles and positioning of students within these (Gill & DeFronzo, 2009). Young people and students are often said to be indifferent to current political institutions and processes. However, based on European experiences, Flesher Fominaya (n.d..) pointed out that members of the younger generation prefer autonomous social movements instead of more traditional ones. An autonomous movement emphasizes direct democracy, selfgovernance, and a horizontal structure through consensus decisionmaking (Mikkelsen & Karpantschof, 2008). In fact, a greater connection to social movements might be a new form of deep participation in political